


Lost & Found (Ukai x OC)

by Belzebewb



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Childhood Friends, Childhood Memories, Dark Past, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Friendship/Love, Idiots in Love, Memories, Past Relationship(s), Personal Growth
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-19
Updated: 2021-02-06
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:21:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27636083
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Belzebewb/pseuds/Belzebewb
Summary: After 10 years, Koemi Hayashi returns to the town she was forced to leave behind as a teenager because of a decision made by her parents.When she gets confronted with the past she reluctantly left behind, the people that once played an important role in her life are surprised to see her again.None of them realizes that the girl who left the town has changed more than it seems on the first glance.10 years are quite a long time.A lot can happen. Time flies. People change. Others are forced to change.
Relationships: Ukai Keishin/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 10





	1. Chapter 1

With a loud thunk, a cardboard moving box landed on the floor of Koemi's living room, more precisely - her new and, up until now, rather sparsely furnished living room. A room that was yet to receive its new resident's personal touch.

Much to the delight of the raven-haired curly head, who turned out to be said new resident that hadn't found the time yet to deal with the non-essential aspects of moving, mainly due to a lack of time and nerves, this box was the last one waiting for her to unpack its contents after an entire day of running to and fro between her overstuffed car and her new, yet empty house with one box after another, one heavier than the previous one.

After having the marvellous pleasure of spending the entire day with transporting and unpacking these boxes available in all sizes and weight classes imaginable, Koemi was certain that she'd developed an aversion for everything made of cardboard or close to that dull brown colour.

The woman let out a strained sigh to express the crushing exhaustion that was weighing down on her tired body and mind by now before she reluctantly let herself sink down on the floor, snatching the bottle of beer that single-handedly represented her moving company to take a sip. Reaching for the scissors, that were fortunately within her range, preventing her from any additional and strenuous movement, she opened the box with a precise move, one she had managed to bring to perfection during today.

Knowing that the end of this day full of lifting boxes, sorting out their contents, and finding a suitable place for everything in the house, was finally in sight, a silver lining looming on the dull brown horizon made of cardboard, Koemi started to unpack the last remainder of her property, silently muttering a _thank you_ as the box's mysterious content was revealed as books, simple and uncomplicated, just waiting to be put on the shelf in her study.

Not even ten minutes later, the woman was standing in her living room, hands placed on her hips, as she examined the results of her effort, pleased with the outcome of her amateurish handwork and relieved that she was finally done with it.

The house wasn't spacious. A living room with an open kitchen attached, a study, in which she could retreat for her work, a bathroom, and a bedroom. It was simple, it was plain. Yet, it was all she needed right now. It was her own place. For her, who would have already been content with a rented, shabby room, this was more than she'd expected to find in such a short span of time.

For now, this was her own personal sanctuary.

But her special moment of dwelling on the joy caused by her new home didn't last long. The vibration of her phone in her pocket tore her from her bundle of content thoughts and forced her back into reality, causing her to remember how tired she actually was.

Stifling a yawn, she slipped her phone out of her jeans and squinted at it, only to almost suffer from a heart attack as she recognized the number on the screen as the one belonging to her new workplace. Doing a quick double-take at the time displayed on her phone, doubts started to manifest in her mind. It couldn't possibly be someone from work at this time of the day.

However, not wanting to risk losing her new job before she'd even had her first day of work, she answered the call, "Hello? Hayashi Koemi here. What can I do for you?"

"Ah Hayashi! I'm glad that I was able to get a hold of you at this time. I'm sorry for the late call. I was actually supposed to call you this afternoon, but well, work got in the way. Long story short - I simply forgot it. I'm sorry! I hope I don't bother you right now", the male voice on the other end of the call rambled hectically.

She was slightly surprised that she'd seemed to be right with her assumption about the caller's ID, but eventually, she was as clueless as before, "Uhm, yeah. No, what I mean is - you don't bother me right now, but...who am I talking to?"

"Oh, I'm sorry! Takeda Ittetsu. One of your future colleagues. Contemporary literature. The principal wanted me to call you. She wanted me to show you the school when you've time - since I'm the closest to your age, I guess? I don't know. I know you only start in two weeks, but if you want, you can come in next week, whenever you want, and I'll give you a tour."

"Wow. That's indeed...random."

"I'm so sorry. This call really comes off as weird at this time."

"Oh shit...did I say that out loud? Anyway. Nevermind. Don't mind me. I'm just done for today, uh, tired is what I mean. Thank you for that offer. I'll gladly get back to it. What if I come in on Monday? Would that be fine?", Koemi queried, dashing to her study to find a pen somewhere in the chaos to jot down the time and date for her school visit, knowing all too well that she was bound to forget it without a reminder.

"Monday? Sounds good. You can find me in the teacher's lounge around 7:30. My first class is in the third period, which means that I have around two hours to show you around."

"Great. Thank you."

"Nothing to thank me for. Time for me to stop bothering you. Until Monday?"

"Monday, 7:30, yes. Have a nice evening, Takeda. Bye."

"Likewise, Hayashi."

Satisfied with the outcome of the surprise call and even more content with the fact that she'd have her tour around school with someone close her age rather than one of the ancient artefacts that were usually roaming the hallways of every damn education building with the intention to haunt students and chew their victims' ears off, Koemi snatched a slip of paper from her desk and started to rummage in the drawer she was certain she'd put her writing material in, still searching for a pen.

After a minute of annoyed rummaging in what seemed to be Pandora's box, feeling like the raider of the lost pen, she found herself growing increasingly irritated. Extremely salty, mainly because she'd already exhausted all her patience today and was more than ready to hit the sheets, the woman retreated her hand and forcefully slammed the drawer shut, almost jumping out of her skin because of the surprisingly loud bang that echoed through the empty house.

"Idiot. I should really get some sleep", she muttered under her breath, cursing herself for behaving like a bad-tempered child that was about to throw a tantrum.

As she turned around, ready to return to the living room to tidy up the last remainders of her unboxing session, which could have been easily mistaken for a cardboard party by an outsider, her eyes darted to the desk, only to find a single pen on top of several books.

Swearing that the pen hadn't been there a minute ago, she grabbed it and let out a long-drawn sigh of defeat as she jotted down her reminder for Monday and stuck the note on her computer monitor.

Motivated by the thought of a warm shower and her freshly made and brand-new bed, she shuffled back to the living room, unsuccessfully trying to stifle a series of yawns on her way there.

Picking up her abandoned bottle of beer, she took the last sip to empty it completely before she threw it in the enormous black trash bag sitting in the corner. One by one, Koemi unfolded the boxes that had formed a leaning tower, that was dangerously close to fall over, in the middle of the room and stacked the cardboard in a somewhat handy pile.

The worn-out woman clamped the pile under her arm, struggling to keep everything together, while she approached the mighty black bag of trash. Taking a deep breath to gather whatever was still left of her strength she picked it up with her free hand, only to almost snap her back in this futile attempt.

Obviously, she had two options: going twice or almost dying while trying to get out both at the same time. Needless to say, that her choice was as obvious as the two options she had. There was no possible scenario, in which she would make that way twice.

Of course, there was a third option - namely, ignoring the chaos in the living room and clearing it tomorrow after a healthy dose of sleep, but this evening, Koemi's brain was already on stand-by and inapt to call her attention to this third, and probably most reasonable, option that should be every sane person's first choice.

Huffing and puffing, the newest addition to the Karasuno High's teaching staff made her way to the garbage can in front of her yard, dragging the enormous trash bag behind her with supreme effort while trying her best to not let go of the unfolded pile of cardboard in her arms.

Eventually, it took her only ten minutes and blood, sweat and tears, to reach the garbage can, where she got rid of the cause for her hardship with a loud _fuck yes_ escaping her lips, her head perfectly resembling a tomato by now.

Embracing the cold breeze of the evening that was ready to turn into night, she took a moment to catch her breath, considering that it presumably wouldn't hurt to work out a bit more, given her state of utter exhaustion.

However, the mental lecture she was giving herself was interrupted by a giggle that caught her off-guard. Immediately turning around to identify the source of the sound, she came face to face with a woman that was leaving the yard of her neighbour's house. A slender, blonde with long, wavy hair and a pretty face, emanating a friendly aura.

Using the last two functioning brain cells that were desperately trying to maintain her cognitive functions, she came to the mind-blowing conclusion that this woman was most likely her neighbour.

"Oh my, did you take all of that out on your own? You must be the new neighbour. Nice to meet you. I'm Abe Nanami", the blonde said with a dazzling smile as she approached Koemi, reaching out her hand to shake.

Still a bit taken aback by her sudden appearance, mainly because Koemi had secretly hoped for no one to see her adventurous journey to throw the trash into Mount Garbage Doom, the raven-haired curly head firmly shook her hand, "Oh hey. Likewise, Abe. Hayashi Koemi."

"Finally, another woman here. This neighbourhood is taken over by old perverted geezers, I swear. Oh, I mean, I don't want to ruin your new-house experience, but unfortunately, it's true", Abe stated with a snicker, her curiosity urging her to bombard the new addition to the neighbourhood with questions, "Are you new in town or have you just moved places?"

"Uhm, I'm...new here because of a ... job? I'm starting at Karasuno High as a teacher in two weeks. I just arrived today in the morning", Koemi replied truthfully, not sure how to handle this conversation that had gotten out of hand rather quickly.

"What?! Oh man, that means you don't know anyone here? That's must be tough!"

"Well, not ex-"

"You know what? Tomorrow evening, I'm going out with my friends, and you're totally coming with us. Do you want to come? This is the perfect opportunity to make friends here!", Abe continued to babble, super excited at the thought of finally having a female addition to her group of friends.

Koemi on the other hand was still trying to process the words that were leaving her new acquaintance's mouth at the speed of light, scared that her brain might end up completely fried today.

As a reaction from her counterpart failed to appear, the blonde finally took in the overtaxed expression on Koemi's face, "I'm so so sorry, Hayashi! I did it again! I have the bad habit of starting to blabber like an idiot when I'm excited. I'm sorry! I didn't mean to overwhelm you. The offer still holds though - of course, only if you want to. I don't want to pressure you if you don't want to, but I promise you that everyone is super nice!"

"I don't know, I-", Koemi hesitated for a moment, trying her best to not look like she was about to fall asleep right there. A complete stranger just invited her to a night out with another bunch of complete strangers. Normally, the answer to that question should be obvious, but then again...would it hurt to make new acquaintances? As soon as she finally mentally arrived here, her life would be more than just her job. Making some friends on the way was a logical thing to do, "You know what? I'm coming. It's not like I'm busy tomorrow. Where and when?"

"Oh yes! Great! I promise you that it's gonna be amazing! Don't worry about the when and where. Just be ready around 6 p.m. I'll come and get you."

Koemi wasn't able to suppress a grin at the blonde's extremely euphoric state, "Alright, Abe. Then, until tomorrow."

The hyper-active blonde let out a happy squeak at the answer she'd received before she turned around to head to her car, frantically waving at Koemi as she climbed in, disappearing as fast as she'd arrived in a hurricane-like manner.

Not entirely sure if this entire scenario had been a weird hallucination produced by her fatigued mind, Koemi's amber orbs followed the car until it disappeared from her line of sight.

A dry chuckle escaped her lips at the absurdity of this encounter, and she dug her hands in the pocket of her oversized hoodie to escape the breeze that had started to cool down her overheated system by now without her notice.

Before she finally headed back in, Koemi took another moment to deeply inhale and exhale the fresh air and to let her eyes explore the unfamiliar, yet familiar streets of her new home.

"It's good to be back."


	2. Chapter 2

Feet comfortably placed on the counter in front of him and face hidden behind a newspaper, Ukai leaned back in his seat, enjoying the absence of customers and the peace and quiet that came with it while he mentally formulated some silent prayers for the store to remain the way it currently was - deserted.

Letting out a low grumble as he finished reading the newspaper's last page, he put it aside and his eyes reflexively darted to the clock to check the time, hoping that it was finally late enough to wrap up today's business.

Fortunately, his wish had been granted.

More than satisfied with the fact that the week was over and his day off was within reach, he got up from his seat and took a moment to stretch his body that had already started to shut down, a loud groan escaping his mouth as his tired limbs gradually began to reboot their functions.

Following his daily routine, one he had already internalized after all these years, he did the accounting, counted the money in the cash, stowed the open remainders of food away in the break room for tomorrow, and made sure to lock everything in the small store.

When he was done, he stopped the timer on his phone, satisfied with the fact that he'd managed to break his own record for the fastest closing time routine by one minute and thirty-two seconds. Of course, the blond store owner would never openly admit that he was doing something like stopping the time at work to compete with himself, yet this little self-competition was enough to push himself when there was no motivation for the day left.

Ukai's eyes roamed the store another time, his brain trying to determine whether he had forgotten anything or not. As he concluded that he was indeed done, he untied the beige apron he was wearing over his orange hoodie and slipped out of it, mindlessly throwing it behind the counter, leaving it to his future self to pick it up tomorrow.

He stepped outside and locked the door, double-checking it, before he snatched the box of cigarettes out of his pockets, pulling one out and placing it between his lips. Deciding to take some time before he headed home, he lit it and took a drag, alternating between his cigarette and inhaling the cold, fresh air.

Just when he was about to leave, something in the corner of his eyes, that eventually revealed itself as someone, caught his attention, and this someone turned out to be Shimada Makoto, one of his oldest friends.

The tall man with blackish blue hair and glasses, who also played volleyball with him in the Neighbourhood Association, approached him with his hands dug in the pockets of his jeans, trying to protect them from the cold breeze, and a bright smile on his face.

"Hey, Ukai."

"Shimada? Nothing better to do on a Saturday evening than trotting around in the cold?", Ukai asked, raising an eyebrow at his friend.

"That's the sad but undeniable truth. How about you though? Already done for today? You look like you could use a drink, man."

"Actually, I just locked the store for fun. I'm out here for a smoke, then I go back in."

"Wow, got up on the wrong side of the bed today?", Shimada uttered, slightly surprised by the grumpy undertone in Ukai's voice.

"Nah, only lots of weird people and annoying customers. Just a troublesome and unnecessarily long day."

"What a coincidence. I actually came here to fetch you and drag you along with me."

Stubbing out his cigarette on the metal trashcan and throwing it away, Ukai sent Shimada a puzzled look, urging him to continue and clarify what he was hinting at.

"I'm heading to the pub with the guys...and Nanami, whose overly excited because apparently, she's bringing along her new neighbour. How about joining us?", Shimada suggested, certain that his friend was in for a drink or two.

An annoyed sigh escaped the tired shop owner's mouth. He couldn't deny that his friend's suggestion sounded tempting. The last few weeks had been busy, and he'd barely found the time to go out and join the others. Also, there was nothing better to celebrate the end of a shitty day, or even better - a shitty week, and relax than an enjoyable night out with a few beers and his friends.

But then again...he couldn't even remember when there had really been a night out...with the guys. Shimada and Abe had been together for roughly a year now, and they'd reached a level of closeness that almost evoked the impression of them being somewhat attached to each other.

Ukai was happy for his friend. He genuinely was. But Shimada had the bad habit of bringing along Abe to their guys' nights, which wasn't a problem per se, but as soon as the two of them were in the same room, they turned into lovey-dovey, touch-deprived lunatics that seemed to forget that there were other people present.

So, yes - the news that Abe was there as well put a damper on his eagerness to tag along. A drink with the guys to vent about everything that was pissing him off? Definitely yes. A drink with the guys and a couple that was so high on love that it was almost sickening to look at? Not so much.

Yet, the lack of time he'd recently spent doing something else than working or sleeping, caused Ukai to turn a blind eye on the circumstances of their little get-together. He scrunched up his nose and let out a sigh, "Alright. I'm in."

Certain that the matter of interest had been discussed and there was nothing else holding them back from directly heading to their usual Saturday night safe space, the blond started to walk off in the direction of their local pub. But after two steps he was pulled back by his hood, letting out a choked off croak of surprise. "What the hell is wrong with you, man?!"

Turning around to shoot his sidekick a frigid gaze of confusion with the power to annihilate an army, Ukai spotted Shimada standing there, arms crossed in front of his chest and his head slightly tilted while he nonchalantly eyed him from head to toe as if he was under inspection.

After a few seconds of awkward silence, the raven-haired man let out a hum as if he'd finally drawn a conclusion from his examination, "You know, we could add a quick pit stop at your place. You could get a quick shower and change."

Confused as hell, Ukai looked at him in disbelief, followed by a quick glance down at himself. Yes, his hoodie had a few stains here and there, but who the hell cared about that? He just wanted to enjoy a damn drink in peace and silence.

"I'm one-hundred per cent certain that I don't want that. I highly doubt that my beer gives a damn about how I look like", he uttered, still having no idea why Shimada was acting that oddly.

Instead of a clarifying answer to the numerous questions that had started to form in Ukai's head, he was met by silence. Shimada simply raised an eyebrow at him and tousled his lips, beginning to emanate the same aura as a mother who was trying to change her child's mind by giving them a silent treatment.

Usually, Ukai wouldn't mind, simply ignore him and head to the bar. Usually, he wouldn't mind the side blow. Well, was it even a side blow when it was true what he'd said? Didn't matter. Anyway - usually, he would have laughed it off.

But the way Shimada was currently examining him from head to toe, almost as if his friend expected him to walk down the catwalk later that evening, was something that caused the alarm bells to start ringing in his head. Especially as he replayed their previous exchange in a quick pass-through while he tried to make sense out of this super awkward situation.

There had been something he'd almost overlooked...or in this case, overheard. Something he hadn't paid any special attention to.

_...Nanami, whose overly excited because apparently, she's bringing along her new neighbour today._

_**New neighbour.** _

The moment of epiphany caused Ukai to grimace before he sent Shimada an annoyed look, "Is this another one of your sad attempts to play matchmaker? Please tell me that you're not behaving like that because you want to set me up with a random stranger again?"

The expression that crept onto Shimada's face was proof enough that he had been caught with the hands in the cookie jar, or rather, caught trying to get Ukai's hands in someone's cookie jar. Yet, the surprised expression on his face didn't last long. Instead it was replaced by a mischievous smile, "No?"

Irked by the fact that his friend didn't seem to understand what no means, Ukai grumbled, "Nope. Nah. No. Nada. Definitely not. That's so not gonna happen. I'm not doing that again. We both know how that's bound to end."

"Oh, come on, Ukai. Don't be like that! It's not what you assume. I ...I don't even know Nanami's new neighbour. I haven't even seen her yet. She just told me that she's new in town. That's why she offered her to join us tonight. That's everything I know. Nanami's just super excited to have another female with us. Considering all of that...maybe it's not a bad idea to try and make a good first impression? You know...just in case? Who knows? It might be worth a shot, or is your plan to go down as a legend in the history of eternal bachelors?"

"You sound like my mother."

"But is she wrong, though?"

"Bro."

Ukai pouted, deciding that it was not worth to waste his breath on a conversation he'd already had so many times that he'd stopped counting by now. He muttered several curses under his breath as he turned around and started to walk in the direction of the pub, "I'll come with you, but I'm so not going to stop by at home to change. I'm going there for the alcohol, not for a random chick I don't know anything about. I just want to have a few drinks before I head home and get some damn sleep. Got me?"

Shimada tried to suppress a chuckle at his friend's reaction, his eyes following the stubborn blond as the distance between them increased.

"What? Are you coming or not?", Ukai called out, stopping for a moment to look back as he realized that Shimada wasn't trying to catch up to him, only to find him still rooted to his spot.

Taking his time to meet Ukai's sudden impatience with an exaggerated eye-roll, the man in question jogged the way to his friend and fell into step with him.

After all these years, the two of them had already internalized all the possible routes leading to their favourite destination in town, starting from every location possible. At this point, both were convinced that they would find there in their sleep.

As they strolled down the empty streets, fully acting on autopilot, they started to update each other about what was currently going on in their lives, something Ukai really appreciated, mainly because for a pleasant change, Abe wasn't there to chime in and add a comment to every damn thing Shimada said.

15 minutes of animated conversations and heated discussions later, the two of them finally arrived at their destination, more than ready to escape the freezing breeze of the evening. When they entered the pub, they almost simultaneously let out a sigh of relief as they were welcomed by the pleasant and extremely inviting warmth of the room.

Ukai let his eyes scan the room in an attempt to spot the rest of the gang that should already be there, locating them all cramped together at a small table in the rearmost corner. Yet, their clamorous laughter somehow seemed to easily find its way to the entrance, resounding in the crammed room.

The two men approached the table, but before they even managed to open their mouths for a greeting, the blonde woman scooped in, jumping up from her seat with a blinding smile on her face at the sight of her nearing boyfriend, "Mako!!!! You're finally here!"

Although everyone present should have already gotten used to her boisterous and hyper-active demeanour, the volume of her ecstatic declaration caused the others at the table to almost jump out of their skin.

Takinoue Yusuke, Ukai's other close friend, and Uchizawa Hidenori, who usually didn't join their nights out, visibly flinched at the shrill squeaking of their mutual friend's better half. The eyes of the two members of the Neighbourhood Association immediately darted to Ukai and they exchanged a knowing look with him that was only met by a shrug from the blond's side.

Recovering rather quickly from Abe's sudden outburst of joy, Ukai couldn't help but find himself a tad bit intrigued. He hadn't been exactly what you'd call a fan of the fact that Abe would bring someone else with her this evening and he most definitely had absolutely no interest in ending up in another unsuccessful attempt of awkward matchmaking situation set up by the overly ambitious Shimada, self-declared Cupid-to-be.

Nevertheless, his curiosity caused his eyes to roam the table again with the expectation to catch sight of said _new neighbour_ , not entirely sure if he'd overlooked her the first time. Yet, he didn't see anyone except for his two friends who were still observing the ecstatic greeting Shimada was currently receiving from his girlfriend with horror.

But his confusion caused by the absence of the newbie wasn't long-lasting because of another unnecessarily loud exclamation from Abe, "Ah! There you are! What did take you so long?!"

"I just had to take a dump. Oh my-...don't look like that. That was a joke. That round's one me, guys."

The sarcastic remark of the unknown voice he assumed to belong to the woman he'd just been looking for caused Ukai to look in its direction - just in time to catch the rear view of a raven-haired curly head with four bottles of beer in her hand, handing one to Abe and the other two to Uchizawa and Takinoue.

After successfully freeing herself from the additional ballast, the woman took a sip of her drink and turned around, ready to introduce herself to the new arrivals, but the vitreous bottle almost slipped out of her grip as her eyes landed on two familiar brown ones.

Excited to introduce the woman she'd already declared as a new friend to the rest of the gang, Abe started, but eventually didn't manage to finish her sentence, "Guys, may I introduce-"

"Emi?!"

"Wha-...Shorty?!"


	3. Chapter 3

Koemi Hayashi, a proud six-year-old since her birthday last week, basically an adult in her own eyes, was currently heading home from the store located at the end of the street she was living at, her brisk eyes carefully scanning her environment.

Every now and then she stopped for a second to take a bite of the absolutely delicious chocolate bar in her hands. Of course, she would have been perfectly able to multitask, to continue on her way and take a bite at the same time. After all, she was a six-year-old by now, and six-year-olds were able to balance two trivial tasks at the same time. But after some careful consideration, she had drawn the conclusion that the candy bar was way more delicious when she could fully focus on it.

And so, she resumed her way home, alternating between taking a few steps to advance and pausing to enjoy what she'd titled as the most candylicious thing she'd ever eaten. The little girl was in a state of pure bliss, causing her to start humming the new song they'd just learned at preschool, which was perfect to express her happiness.

Absent-mindedly balancing at the edge of the sidewalk, Koemi couldn't help but feel proud of herself. She had been able to head to the store and buy herself her favourite candy with the money she'd received from her aunt who'd paid them a visit last weekend. All of that on her own.

Her aunty was truly a nice woman. Koemi adored her. Not only because she regularly slipped her some money when her parents weren't looking. Aunty Mai was funny. And she always treated her like an actual person. Not like a kid. Also, Aunty Mai was an absolutely stunning woman. Sometimes, Koemi pondered on why her mother wasn't as nice and funny as her sister.

Her mother was beautiful as Aunty Mai, but she was so serious. She rarely ever had a smile on her face. And jokes? No. Koemi's mother wasn't a fan of jokes. Every time Koemi excitedly shared one of the ones she'd learned from classmates, her mother just shook her head and told her to stop with the _bothersome_ nonsense. She had no idea what this fancy word meant, but since the expression on her mother's face was somewhat angry whenever she used it, it probably wasn't something positive.

One time, Koemi had even dreamed about how her life would look like if she'd be Aunty Mai's daughter, not her mother's. But then, she'd immediately felt bad for it. Incredibly bad. Even if it had been nothing more than a thought experiment. She'd never had the intention to be mean to her mother. After all, it's not okay to be mean to others. Everyone knows that.

However, she'd started to put aside the money she always received from her aunt. If there's one thing Koemi had learned from her parents, it is that money is important. They always told her that she had to learn a lot to become something important or at least marry someone important when she was old enough. She couldn't exactly remember what they'd told her, but the word _money_ was usually brought up together with _important_.

The last time, she'd accompanied her mother to the store she'd realized why this weird paper was so important. Apparently, it could buy you things. Some things required less money, some things required more. But the fact was that it was possible to get amazing things with it. Food, clothes, cars...everything!

And when Koemi had spotted her favourite chocolate bar at the store they'd been at, she realized that candy also belonged to the things you could get in exchange for this strange and powerful paper.

The only problem was that Koemi didn't want her parents to know about the money she received from Aunty Mai. Her aunty always urged her to keep it a secret. Their little secret. A secret Koemi would never dare to break. They'd even sealed this secret with a pinky swear, so it was unbreakable anyway.

So, accompanying her mother to the store to get groceries and buy the chocolate bar she so desperately wanted to have was not an option. Her mother would immediately ask where she'd gotten that money from, making it a big no-no.

But then again, going to the store alone also wasn't an option. At least, not a legal one.

Koemi had unsuspiciously asked her mother if she should go to the store to get the groceries for her, but her parents had instantly shut her down, stating that she was too young to do that. They didn't want her to go there alone.

All of this was extremely frustrating for her. She just wanted her chocolate!

Not ready to give up yet, she'd decided to prove her parents wrong this morning. Koemi was already a big girl. Six-year-olds were perfectly able to head there alone and get back in one piece.

The store was directly at the corner of their street, not even far away from the playground close to their house. She was allowed to go to the playground alone, so why not go a hundred metres farther? Her parents' decision didn't make any sense at all.

Clever as she was, Koemi had prepared what she'd called the ultimate candy masterplan yesterday in the evening before going to bed. She'd wake up this morning, try her best to not appear suspicious at all, and then, after breakfast, she'd tell them that she wanted to go to the playground. When she'd receive the permission to go there, she would simply disobey the irrational rules her parents had constructed and run to the store to snatch the candy bar with her own money.

Easy as that.

A bulletproof masterplan.

Well, that's what she'd thought.

But her parents had managed to thwart her plan this morning. Everything had worked perfectly up until the point at which she'd asked for permission to go outside alone.

What Koemi hadn't realized until then was that her mother was in an exceptionally bad mood, and this was eventually the reason for her plan to go down the drain.

Her mother hadn't granted her the permission to go, not even providing her with a reason for it, causing Koemi to pout and ask again, but she'd been shut down immediately.

Yet there had been an unexpected but fortunate turn of events.

Her parents had started to argue, which wasn't something unusual at all. Apparently, they loved to yell at each other. Koemi had no idea if it was fun for them or if they really couldn't stand each other. But then again, they were a family. Families always love each other, right? That's why Koemi concluded that their constant bickering and the regular screaming sessions were perfectly normal, something they enjoyed. Because...if they didn't enjoy it, they wouldn't continue with it, right?

Knowing that her parents were usually so distracted by their boisterous disputes that they tended to forget about their daughter's existence, Koemi's hopes that had just been crushed by her mother had started to sprout again.

The little girl had quietly removed herself from the scene and had sneaked into her bedroom upstairs, where she'd escaped through her window.

By now, she had already perfected the process of climbing down. The first few times had been rather painful, and the falls had taught her to show some respect to heights, but by now, she was already a seasoned climber, convinced that she'd be able to rival a monkey when it came to it. After all, she was also regularly honing her climbing skills at the monkey bars at the playground.

Her parents wouldn't notice that she was gone. No matter how long they'd be occupied with shouting at each other's face, they'd assume that their daughter had gone upstairs to quietly keep herself busy in her room, something they always expected from her.

The only thing Koemi had to watch out for was to return back home before it started to get dark outside because that meant dinner time.

Even though the independent store visit had been a first, it hadn't been the first time that Koemi had sneaked out like that. By now, it was business as usual for her.

To be honest? She always tried to get away as far from the house as possible when her parents were back at arguing. She was glad to escape from their yelling sessions. It was loud. So loud that her hands covering her ears weren't enough to fade out their voices, and she had to admit that it was scary sometimes, even for a six-year-old.

But for now, Koemi was more than happy, enjoying the time in her little bubble, strolling down the street with a dazzling grin on her face. She'd successfully managed to realize her venture without any problems. Her self-assessment had been on point.

She'd been right. Her parents had been wrong.

She'd loved to rub this in her parents' faces, but unfortunately, this would reveal the secret mission she'd been on. Koemi had to suck it up and keep her excitement for herself.

With a sad sigh, Koemi noticed that she'd already reached the very end of her chocolate bar, surprised by it since she'd tried her best to take as little bites as possible to provide her with a long-lasting delight.

Her money had allowed her to buy a second one, but she didn't want to eat it now. She wanted to hide it in her room and keep it there for a special occasion, for a bad day, since the chocolate bar had the magic power to brighten everyone's mood with its deliciousness.

As she approached a garbage bin to get rid of the wrapper, her honey-coloured orbs wandered to the entry of the playground, surrounded by hedges, which was only metres away from her, causing an idea to pop up in her mind.

There was a clock at one of the huge posts in front of the playground, but much to her dismay, she couldn't make any sense of it. She had tried to learn it, but she hadn't managed to grasp the concept of the clock yet.

Angry at her ineptitude to do something as easy and essential like reading the time, Koemi looked up at the sky with squinted eyes to estimate how much time was still left until she had to return home.

There was no darkness in sight. Only a bright blue sky, sprinkled with a few clouds here and there.

That was enough information for her to finalize her decision.

She'd totally make a pit stop at the playground before heading home. This would be the best day ever. First, her favourite candy, and now, a playground visit, even though her mother had prohibited it. Two forbidden fruits in one day!

Approaching the playground, hopping from cobblestone to cobblestone, the self-declared Miss Independent Koemi Hayashi was ready to have the time of her life.

Even better was that the playground seemed to be empty. There was no one except for her. Normally, she enjoyed the presence of others. Some of her friends often came here, but sometimes, she preferred to be alone, allowing her to play with whatever she wanted without having to wait first.

She directly headed to the swing, the throne of her magnificent playground kingdom, with the intention to beat her old record of jumping from it.

"Ouch! Stop it! I didn't do anything to you! Just let me go!"

That's when little Koemi was torn from her excited, record-breaking dreams.

Irritated by the sudden exclamation which was followed by a whimper, Koemi turned around to locate the source of the noise, spotting three boys that seemed to be her age in the corner of the playground, scolding herself for being so lost in her thoughts that she hadn't noticed them earlier.

One of the boys was lying on the ground, shielding his face with his arms. The other two were standing above him with a football in their hands, repeatedly trying to throw it at his face with full force.

"Idiot. You always talk about poopy volleyball, and now you're not even able to catch a ball with your hands? You should just go for football like the rest of us."

"Wait, isn't your grandpa a volleyball trainer? Must be ashamed of you."

Shocked by the sight, Koemi stood there, rooted to her spot for a moment as she tried to wrap her head around what was happening.

She didn't know any of the boys. But these two didn't look like nice guys. The things they were saying also weren't nice. Not at all.

And the boy on the floor looked like he was trying his best to not give in and cry like a baby, his arms already red from the repeated impact of the leathern ball.

"Hey, you two poopheads! Two against one is not fair!", Koemi yelled, unconsciously stomping to emphasize her words as she felt herself becoming increasingly angry at the audacity of these two.

"Oh, look, how cute. A little girl has come to rescue you, Princess Ukai."

"And what are you going to do now? Cry?"

The two boys raised her eyebrows at her, tousling their noses in annoyance at the unannounced disruption of their business.

The boy on the floor, Ukai, slowly lowered his arms as he realized that his bullies' attention had shifted elsewhere, following their line of sight, only to spot a little girl with curly black hair, tied back in two pigtails in an attempt to tame it, in a bright orange hoodie glaring at the two boys he knew from preschool.

Not eager to start a conversation with the two pinheads, Koemi slowly approached them, ready to show them that crying wasn't solely limited to girls.

"Stay out of this. This is none of your business, pigtails", one of the boys said with a cocky grin on his face, yet a bit insecure as he spotted the furious expression on her face.

"Take your stupid ball and go home", Koemi spat out, prepared to throw hands if they wouldn't follow her prompt. After all, she was still the ruler of the playground kingdom and one of her peasants was in danger.

"Mako, just continue. I'll take care of her."

The taller one of the two got closer to Koemi, meeting her defiant look. He grabbed her by the shoulders and shoved her back, causing her to land on her butt in the dirt.

Now even more frightened than before, Ukai's eyes widened in panic as he saw the girl falling, "Stop! She has nothing to do with this!"

Completely unfazed by the shove, trying her best to not show this poophead that her butt actually did hurt, she got up on her feet again, and exploited her attacker's brief moment of inattentiveness, using all of her strength to land a kick between his legs.

"Ouch!!!"

Taken aback by this sudden hit, the boy went down on his knees, desperately clinging on to the spot between his legs as tears started to prickle in his eyes.

Putting on a sickly-sweet smile for the second boy, Koemi asked, "Same for you?"

The boy with the football in his hands froze in his place. It was embarrassing. His friend had just been knocked out by a little girl. A girl! He should teach her a lesson. He totally should. But then again, what if he also received a punch in the nuts? He wasn't eager to find out.

His eyes repeatedly flickered between his friend, who was still writhing on the floor, trying to not start crying in front of the others to show some weakness, and the girl in the orange hoodie who was raising an eyebrow at him with a challenging look.

He gulped, not entirely sure how to handle this. Normally, his friend handled the decision-making. He just followed instructions. He wasn't used to deciding for himself.

But before he could come to a conclusion, he was also struck by a painful hit in the balls, coming from the boy he'd just previously bullied, causing him to follow his friend on his knees.

Ukai, who was still trying to fight back the tears because of how much his arms and his face hurt, exchanged a quick glance with the raven-haired girl, noticing that she sent him a bright grin and a thumbs up, causing a weak smile to form on his red face.

"I think you two should go now. If you do something like that again, I'll find out where you live and tell your parents about what you did!", Koemi announced snippily, stemming her hands in her hips.

The two bullies exchanged a quick glance, coming to the same conclusion. It was time to go home. This weird girl was definitely a psycho.

They forced themselves on their feet, quickly grabbing their football, and hurried away from the playground, vanishing behind the hedges, leaving Koemi and Ukai behind.

Glad that she was able to help, Koemi approached the boy with the short brown hair and evenly brown eyes on the ground and reached her hand out to help him up, which he gladly accepted after wiping his face with the sleeve of his shirt.

"Hey! I'm Hayashi Koemi! Are you alright? It's okay now. These two poopheads are gone."

Still completely gobsmacked by the absurdity of the situation and embarrassed that a girl had to save his butt, Ukai slightly nodded, "Hey Hayashi, I'm Ukai Keishin. Thank you...for helping me."

"Nice to meet you, Ukai! Oh, it's fine! That's my duty. This playground is my kingdom, you know? I have to protect everyone here from villains like them!"

Not able to suppress a laugh at how serious she presented her words, Ukai let out a hearty chuckle, only to be reminded of the pain in his face, causing him to grimace and carefully feel his nose that had had the honour to directly become acquainted with his bullies' football.

"Oh wait! Don't touch it. That doesn't look too good. That must hurt! Here, let me look at it."

Koemi got a bit closer and grabbed his hand, leading it away from his face. Then, she started to inspect it with squinted eyes, softly grazing the skin of his red cheeks with her fingers.

Ukai audibly gulped at the sudden contact, not entirely sure how to react. Never before had he been this close to a girl of his age. At the moment, he was glad that his cheeks were already red, covering the heat that was slowly starting to radiate from them.

"It's not at bad as it looks like! And luckily for you, I've got the perfect therapy for this, Ukai."

The boy furrowed his brows in confusion before he curiously asked, "And what would that be?"

"Close your eyes for a moment."

"Bu-"

"Just close your eyes."

Ukai did as she instructed and closed his eyes, having absolutely no idea why as he heard a crackling sound.

"You can open them now."

As he opened his eyes again, they immediately focused on a chocolate bar that was held directly in front of his face, and behind that chocolate bar was Koemi with a smile on her face that had the power to blind someone.

"W-where did you get that from?"

"Doesn't matter. Just eat it. It has magic powers. Believe me."

Reluctantly, Ukai snatched the chocolate bar out of her hand and took a bite, his face instantly lightening up as he munched on it.

"Oh wow! This is so delicious!"

"Right?"

"Totally"

Absolutely satisfied that she'd been able to help this boy, Koemi was sure that nothing could dampen her mood today, and as she continued to observe him and saw how the tears that were still lingering in the corners of his eyes started to dry, she concluded that it had been totally worth it to sacrifice her snack for it.

A snackrifice had been made for the greater good.

"Where did you get that from, Hayashi? I really need to know!"

"Are you ready for a fantastical story about a magnificent masterplan and an adventurous journey to the store around the next corner, Ukai?"

"Of course I am!"


	4. Chapter 4

“Emi?!”

“Wha-…Shorty?!”

“Ha-…Hayashi?!”, Shimada gasped completely confounded as his eyes landed on the woman his girlfriend had so desperately wanted to introduce them to.

Much to nobody´s surprise, the blonde lacked the empathy to correctly read the situation. Although it´s debatable if the woman blatantly decided to neglect the three obviously thunderstruck faces in front of her or if she truly was that oblivious.

However, she didn’t want to miss the opportunity to chime in, causing her to join the three of them with an excited squeal, “Nanami!”

In the background, the two other members of the Neighbourhood Association were still sitting at the table, now equipped with a new bottle of beer thanks to Koemi, while they curiously followed the shit show that seemed to unfold with wide eyes.

None of them had an idea of what was going on, but as they exchanged a confused glance, both silently agreed that there was an almost tangible tension building up, the Bermuda triangle forming between Hayashi, Ukai, and Shimada. The only one that didn’t seem to realise that was the hyperactive blonde.

“What the hell is going on, man.”

“I have absolutely no idea. But it looks like drama.”

“I´m all in for drama.”

That´s when their eyes landed on their close friend, who seemed to be paralysed in a state of shock on his spot, his mouth repeatedly opening and closing as he found himself at a loss of words after he´d managed to press out the name of the woman he apparently already knew.

Well, to be fair, there were certain things Ukai had expected to happen today and certain things he´d never ever even considered to happen. Not today. Not tomorrow. Never.

Randomly joining his friends on their night out and getting introduced to the new neighbour of Shimada´s annoying girlfriend who turned out to be the last person he´d ever expected to see again in his life was definitely one of the latter.

The woman, whose smile had fallen from her face the second her eyes recognised him, who was standing there within reach right in front of him was no stranger. She´d been his best friend for almost a decade after their fateful encounter on the playground back then…which had already been 21 years ago.

What was she doing here? Why on earth was Koemi Hayashi standing here in front of him? What the hell had happened? Was it a glitch in the matrix? Was he already drunk and hallucinating?

No…it had to be her. She´d called him that stupid nickname he´d begged her to abandon from the day she´d decided that it was funny to call him that– mainly because it had annoyed the shit out of him.

What were the odds? What were the goddamn odds?

She´d changed. Obviously. It had been ten years since she´d left the town. She´d been a girl back then. A girl that had grown into a woman by now.

Yet, there was no doubt that it was her.

Her features had matured, naturally. But even though her curly raven mane was shorter than the last time he´d seen her and her honey-coloured eyes seemed to have lost that playful sparkle that had always been there, it hadn´t taken him more than a second to recognise her.

There he was, rendered speechless as he was staring at a ghost from his past, unable to formulate a straight sentence or produce out a sound. He simply continued to stand there, rooted to his spot, staring at her with widened eyes while he was drowning in a storm of uncontrolled emotions that was relentlessly sweeping across him.

Joy. Nostalgia. Anger. Disbelief. Curiosity. Perplexity. Annoyance. Excitement. Irritation. Bitterness.

Ukai couldn’t pinpoint what emotion was dominating the storm. It was too overwhelming as it came crushing down on him like a wave, forcefully uncovering an incredibly painful chapter of his past, one that had taken him an exorbitantly long time to overcome.

He´d buried everything connected to it deep down in his mind, refusing to allow himself to dwell in nostalgia, which had turned out to be more difficult than expected since most of his best memories were inextricably tied to her.

And now, years after he´d finally managed to let go of the past and distance himself from it, mainly because it was basically the only option he had, she was standing there. Without warning. Out of nowhere.

He felt like a sober alcoholic, and that woman in front of him had just poured a glass of the finest whiskey right at his face, making the idea of a relapse dangerously tempting, even though he knew perfectly well that it would be self-destruction in its purest incarnation.

On the other side of this two-sided mirror to the past, the unexpected encounter with Ukai also hadn´t left Koemi unaffected. The moment he´d called out her name in disbelief, she´d been thrown on a nightmarish rollercoaster ride through the depths of the time she´d carefully stored away and locked in a closet some years ago to spare herself the pain that was inevitably linked to it.

Immediately after she´d managed to overcome her prior state of shock, she´d quickly inspected him from head to toe to ensure that her eyes weren´t playing tricks on her, even though all the doubts had already been eradicated the moment she´d met his eyes. She knew these eyes inside out. There was no doubt that it was him, even though a small part of her wished that it wasn’t.

It was strange to see him again, but undeniably also in a good way. He´d grown up, and one thing was painfully obvious. Shorty wasn´t a proper nickname anymore, now that he was looking down at her. Actually, _Shorty_ had already been debatable when she´d left. That´s when he´d shown the first signs of what had turned out as a pubertal growing spurt, causing her to lose the height advantage for the first time since they´d gotten to know each other.

He´d lost his baby face, and the existence of what seemed to be a poor excuse of a stubble was indicated by a subtle shadow on his chin. The thing that stood out most to her was that his buzzcut had been replaced, and apparently, he´d pulled through with his defiant plan to bleach his hair, something he´d always wanted to do, mainly to annoy Old Ukai.

But it didn’t take long for that first moment of joy caused by this unexpected reunion to fade away. It was instantly replaced by the awful feelings of guilt she´d been harbouring since that day back then, and these feelings relentlessly started to devour her from inside out, squeezing her chest and making her feel like she was about to suffocate.

Even though the two of them had been basically able to read each other´s minds or mood back then in the days, she couldn’t make out what was going on in her former best friend, whom she´d bestowed the title of her other quarter, arguing that his lacking height and body mass weren´t sufficient to earn him the title of her other half.

But the longer she wallowed in the nostalgic memories that had freed themselves from their prison without her permission, the more she realized her own lack of judgement.

Obviously, something like this was bound to happen sooner or later. Her hometown wasn´t exactly the biggest. It had only been a question of time until she´d meet someone that knew her.

But that didn’t change the fact that she felt like she´d just been run over by a train.

Why exactly did it have to be him?

Noticing how weird this entire scene must look for the rest of the people who were present, Koemi forced herself to regain her composure, mentally attempting to comfort herself. But as she left the chaotic maze of her mind, she saw that Ukai´s brown orbs were still lingering on her, his face frozen in shock and disbelief.

Not able to withstand his piercing gaze any longer, she averted her eyes, but on their way down, they got caught at the stained, bright orange hoodie he was wearing, causing her to frown and direct her eyes to the floor while Ukai continued to stare her down in awful silence.

In addition to the two malfunctioning childhood friends, completely overwhelmed and unable to act, there was a third variable in this strange equation, and this variable was Shimada.

The moment he´d seen the woman Nanami had been so excited about, he´d recognised her, a grimace forming on his face as he cursed himself for the stupid decision to spontaneously invite Ukai tonight, even though he was well aware that he couldn´t have possibly known.

But compared to the other two, Shimada didn’t immediately enter a paralysed state of shock. After he accepted that it was indeed Hayashi who was standing right in front of him, his worry skyrocketed and his eyes darted to his friend, already having a vague idea of what to expect.

Shimada had always been there. He´d basically been forced to watch how the metaphorical car representing their friendship had been run into a brick wall, full force at any sacrifice. He´d witnessed what had happened to Ukai when Hayashi had moved away. He´d been there, trying to take care of the collateral damage caused by her parents´ decision to leave.

Considering how close the two were, Shimada had already expected that it would take his friend a while to get over it, but eventually, it had taken him more than a year to finally accept it and several years to stop mentioning her regularly.

And now, after all this time, she was casually standing there in front of them as if her absence during the last ten years was nothing more than a fever dream.

After a short moment of silence that felt like an eternity for the three old acquaintances, the blonde Abe pouted, taken aback that the others didn’t find her exclamation half as funny as she did, deciding that it was time to get rid of the tense atmosphere that seemed to have emerged out of nowhere.

Throwing her arm around her boyfriend´s neck, Abe let her eyes wander between Ukai and Hayashi before she looked up to Shimada, “You guys know each other or something?”

Uchizawa and Takinoue still hadn´t moved an inch. By now, they´d almost entered stealth mode, not daring to make a sound while they enjoyed the free show.

Taking a big sip from his drink, Takinoue narrowed his eyes as he waited for one of them to answer Abe´s question, taking notice that none of them was even considering providing her with a satisfying reply. “Oh-oh. Shit´s about to hit the fan.”

Abe´s pout intensified as she acknowledged what the two men at the table had already understood, causing her to grow slightly irritated. She´d hoped for all of them to get along, and everything had been perfect until her boyfriend and Ukai had arrived. But she had no idea what had caused everything to go downhill from one second to another.

Accepting that it was probably useless to repeat the question that had been so blatantly ignored, she focused on Shimada again, “Mako?”

Shimada let out a sigh. He wasn’t sure if Hayashi or Ukai had even heard his girlfriend´s question, but he knew that it was up to him to say something, even though he had no clue what.

Breaking his head for a moment to come up with a somewhat half-decent explanation, he started, “Uhm, well, you see, we-“

“Yes, Abe. We know each other. We basically grew up together”, Koemi stated firmly, shifting her attention towards the friendly blonde who´d so generously invited her, even though they barely knew each other.

The raven-haired woman knew that her current behaviour was rude, and the last thing she wanted right now was to insult Abe, who´d given her such an undeserved warm welcome.

Although she was visibly uncomfortable in her skin and there was no way to conceal that, she forced herself to form a plastic smile before she turned around again to face her past incarnated in the form of two men, “It´s been forever since we`ve seen each other, guys. Look at you. You´ve grown up. It´s great to see you again.”

Wishing that the earth would just open up right now to swallow her, Koemi tried to ignore her body that had gone rogue by now, alternating between hot and cold in rapid succession, but to no avail. She had to accept that there was no perfect way to properly handle this situation.

Concluding that she didn’t want it to become even more awkward than it already was, especially because of the others, she sucked it up, put on a brave face, pretended that everything was fine, and was ready to behave like a normal person – or at least, try to.

But even though she attempted to mentally brace herself for what was coming, her heart broke into thousand tiny pieces as she noticed how Ukai finally managed to regain his composure and unglued his eyes from her, trying to focus on anything that wasn´t in her direction.

She didn’t expect him to confront her, but this … lack of reaction hurt more than she´d like to admit to herself.

Then, the blond let out a low hum before he turned on his heels and excused himself, “I´m going to get something to drink.”

Five pairs of eyes, two of them extremely worried, followed the store owner who mechanically headed to the bar where he blended in the colourful crowd, looking like a robot in desperate need of an oil change.

Shimada´s body engaged the autopilot and automatically started to move, ready to follow his friend, knowing all too well that he most likely wasn´t in the best state of mind right now, but before he could finish his first step in the bar´s direction, a delicate hand landed on his arm and tugged him towards the table, not willing to let him go.

His eyes tried to detect Ukai´s bright orange hoodie amongst the crowd that was gathering around the counter but to no avail. He bit down on his lower lip and turned around to face his girlfriend who was still holding on to his arm while she was sending him a confused look.

Aware that his Nanami could be extremely stubborn, he let out another disheartened sigh and followed her lead, reluctantly planting himself on one of the free seats at the table while his girlfriend took place next to him.

Regarding Ukai´s whereabouts, there were two viable options. Either he was already on his way home, trying to get as far away from Hayashi as possible, or he was standing outside, inhaling an entire pack of cigarettes while he was rummaging through all the emotional baggage he´d safely stored away years ago.

Neither of them was optimal, but well, what in life was exactly optimal? If one thing was sure, it´s that life always finds a creative way to fuck with you – no matter if you deserve it or not, and Ukai definitely belonged to those that didn’t deserve it.

He decided to wait a bit, at least until Nanami had shifted her attention to someone else before he would go and look for his friend.

Abe didn’t give them a second to catch their breath. Just when Hayashi lowered herself on the seat she´d previously occupied, her blonde neighbour already started to bombard her with questions, showing no mercy.

Where did they all know each other from? How long did they know each other? Why hadn´t Koemi mentioned that she´d lived here as a child? Why had her family moved away? Had they attended the same school? Why hadn´t Ukai or Shimada mentioned her before when talking about their younger years?

Koemi´s amber eyes widened as she tried to process the words that were targeted at her while Abe´s mouth went on like a machine gun, firing off one short burst after another.

Koemi wasn´t annoyed, even though it would probably be completely justified considering her situation. Unfortunately, she could fully understand Abe´s curiosity. The friendly woman just wanted to clear the thick fog that was encompassing their mutual past.

It was only reasonable.

She really couldn’t blame her for it, and it definitely wouldn’t be fair to wreak her frustration and annoyance caused by this disastrous coincidence on an innocent that wasn’t at fault.

Instead, Koemi tried to shake off the awkward tension that was still in control of her, making her feel like a puppet on a string who was controlled by someone with a bizarre and crude sense of humour. Not wanting to make Abe or the other guys, who´ve almost blended in with the bench they were sitting on, feel uncomfortable, she put on a half-assed genuine smile.

She wasn’t eager to confront the skeletons in her closet, especially not like that – on a stage in front of three strangers.

You see, a normal person would just probably state the truth, explaining that they weren’t fond to lay out their entire past right now and there. They would politely clarify that they weren´t comfortable with it, and it most likely wouldn’t be a problem.

But that wasn´t Koemi´s way of doing things. Koemi Hayashi had a heart of gold, but she had the habit of putting others before herself. She didn’t want to hurt people. She didn’t want to make others uncomfortable in her presence.

Koemi Hayashi was that kind of person that went out of her way to please others and help them. An altruist to the core. She wanted to see others happy. Even if it meant that she was the loser in that scenario. It didn’t matter for her - as long as everyone else was doing well, she was content.

A long time ago, a good friend had always used to scold her for this habit, calling it self-destructive and inconsiderate. He´d urged her to stop caring about others. He´d urged her to put herself first. He´d never gotten tired to bring it up and chew her ears off with it.

Yet, she never managed to get rid of this bad habit – as he´d liked to call it. Focusing on others was a welcome distraction for her – one she didn’t want to miss out on. She rather dealt with other peoples´ problems than her own. It was easier, and she saw it as her mission to make as many people happy as possible. That´s where she drew her motivation from.

Koemi unconsciously began to fidget on her seat as she tried to find a way to explain everything without breaking her own principles of politeness and happiness. But this endeavour ended up being more difficult than expected. Either that or her brain was still too fried to be a reliable creator of solid excuses and alternate storytelling.

Fortunately, Shimada didn’t fail to notice the uneasiness that was radiating from Hayashi, and he was more than willing to jump in and have her back – for old times´ sake. If he couldn’t go after Ukai right now, he would at least try to help Hayashi to manoeuvre herself out of this unpleasant conversation.

“So, Hayashi, what brought you back here?”, he queried, nonchalantly ignoring the question his girlfriend had just asked a minute ago, which caused a sulky pout to appear on her face.

Almost letting out an audible sigh of relief as her eyes wandered to Shimada, Koemi felt some of the tension leaving her body and she dared to relax in her seat. She was off the hook – at least for now, and she genuinely appreciated Shimada´s effort.

Sending him a heartfelt smile and an implied nod to thank him, she spoke up, “A job offer. I´m starting as a teacher at the Karasuno High in two weeks.”

“Oh, a teacher? Great to hear that you managed to realise your dreams and follow your passion”, he paused for a moment, “Wait – Karasuno? So, after all these years, you´re finally getting a chance to experience the hell in person?”

Uchizawa and Takinoue were almost holding their breath as they attentively followed the conversation, their eyes repeatedly darting between Shimada and the new old friend.

“Seems so.”

Not being able to hold back all the questions that were burning on the tip of her tongue, Nanami exploited the brief moment of silence that settled between Hayashi and her boyfriend, “Oh? So, you guys moved away? Where to? Why?”

Koemi´s amber orbs focused on the blonde opposite of her, “My father accepted a job offer in Sapporo. We moved away one week before I would have started my first year of high school at Karasuno.”

“Oh, Sapporo?! That´s so cool. Man, that must have been great to get away from here and get the chance to explore a big city!”, Nanami blurted out, her mouth working faster than her brain.

Koemi´s smile fell from her face, “Well, no. It wasn´t…cool. It definitely wasn´t cool. It was a choice made by my parents. Not mine. They didn’t want to hear my opinion on the matter. They didn’t even ask. They just confronted me with the fact that we´re moving from one day to another.”

Only then, Abe realised how incredibly insensitive the words she´d just mindlessly thrown at her new neighbour had been. “Oh God, I´m so sorry, Hayashi. I didn’t mean it that way.”

“No worries. Everything´s alright. It´s all over and done with. It´s been ten years now. It was just…extremely shitty back then.”

Even the usually dense Abe registered how Hayashi sunk back down in her seat with hanging shoulders, obviously wrecked by her inconsiderate remarks. Acknowledging that her new friend´s wellbeing was more important than her own curiosity, she decided to sidestep everything regarding her obviously not-so-pleasant past for the rest of the evening. “Karasuno High? What exactly are you teaching then? Are you excited? It´s always so intimidating to start somewhere new.”

Shimada quietly observed how the two women became increasingly engrossed in their conversation, relieved as he noted that his girlfriend had finally been blessed by a moment of epiphany and was steering the talk to more general topics.

Realising that now was his time to shine, he got up from his seat and excused himself, ready to start his journey to retrieve his lost friend and prepared for the worst as he approached the bar.


End file.
